Plaquemines Retains Executive Director

The commissioners of the Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District (PPHTD), the body that oversees Plaquemines Parish’s port complex, voted to retain Charles Tillotson as executive director after another contentious meeting November 13.

The port recently rebranded as the Louisiana Gateway Port,

The decision followed a lengthy PPHTD meeting November 3 during which commissioners challenged Tillotson on an auditor’s findings of lax expense controls, documentation and reimbursement of contracts. After Tillotson spent hours answering questions during the November 3 meeting, commissioners ultimately withdrew the resolution to terminate his employment, citing a clause in his contract that required him to be given a 10-day notice.

Exactly 10 days later—and, incidentally, two days past Tillotson’s three-year anniversary with the port—commissioners, who also serve as the parish council, convened again to vote on the resolution to terminate Tillotson’s employment with the port.

An hour into the November 13 meeting, which saw various commissioners raising concerns over port expenses and the direction of the organization and commissioner Mitch Jurisich directly accusing Tillotson of spreading lies about him in the community, Belle Chasse resident Arthur Henry addressed the board to plead for commissioners to work together and put forth a united front.

“You’ve got nine people up there, nine councilmen, and you have a director,” Henry said. “The people want the port to be a success, but the people also want you guys to work together. That’s what they voted for. You work together, the port can prosper.”

Audrey Trufant Salvant, a former Plaquemines Parish Council member and a resident of the community of Ironton, also spoke in favor of retaining Tillotson.

“I’ve been working with Mr. Tillotson in light of the alignment of the rail and how it’s going to impact Ironton,” Trufant Salvant said. “This guy has been more than gracious to the community of Ironton. He made sure the community was protected as much as possible. He’s very professional. Matter of fact, he’s shown a lot more professionalism than I’ve seen here today, and I’ve sat where you guys sit before.”

Like Henry, Trufant Salvant called on commissioners to put differences aside for the good of the parish.

“This parish is never going to succeed with all of these petty comments, and it sounds like a whole bunch of personal stuff,” she said.

Beyond simply retaining Tillotson, Trufant Salvant said his work ought to be celebrated.

“He’s been doing work that I think you guys should be proud of rather than trying to entertain petty comments,” she said.

In all, six members of the community spoke up in favor of retaining Tillotson.

Commissioners then each took turns commenting on the issue, with Stuart Guey raising concerns over what the tenor of the meeting communicates to the rest of the port community and potential tenants.

“We say what we want to say, and we do what we want to do, but we’re doing it in a very unprofessional manner, and it reflects on Plaquemines Parish,” Guey said.

Guey invited his colleagues to speak their minds, but he urged them to vote, move on and put the issue to rest.

“We’ve done that over the last three years,” he said. “We’ve had some intense discussions, but after we voted, we walked out of here, and the vote was done. However this vote goes, I know that’s going to happen today.”

Commissioner Tyrone Edwards called the conflict between some of the commissioners and Tillotson “a personal vendetta.”

“It’s personal, it’s personal,” he said. “I’ll take that position. There’s been a lot of back[room] dealing.”

In the end, commissioners voted 5-4 to retain Tillotson.